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Climate Change

Fossil Fuels On Trial: Where The Major Climate Change Lawsuits Stand Today

July 21, 2018 David Hasemyer, Insideclimatenews.org , ,
A wave of legal challenges that is washing over the oil and gas industry, demanding accountability for climate change, started as a ripple after revelations that ExxonMobil had long recognized the threat fossil fuels pose to the world. Over the past few years: Two states have launched fraud investigations into Exxon over climate change. Nine cities and counties, from New York to San Francisco, have sued major fossil fuel companies, seeking compensation for climate change damages. And determined children have filed lawsuits against the federal government and various state governments, claiming the governments have an obligation to safeguard the environment. The litigation, reinforced by science, has the potential to reshape the way the world thinks about energy production and the consequences of global warming.

Heat Wave Safety: 130 Groups Call For Protections For Farm, Construction Workers

July 19, 2018 Georgina Gustin, Insideclimatenews.org , , ,
Parts of the country are expecting another round of searing, potentially record-shattering heat in the coming days, and many farm and construction workers will be out in it—with no federal heat stress standards directing their employers to offer them water, rest or shade. Despite recommendations going back more than 40 years, the federal government has repeatedly failed to set a heat stress standard for American workers.  On Tuesday, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, along with United Farm Workers Foundation and Farmworker Justice, joined more than 130 public health and environmental groups in submitting a petition to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration calling for the agency to require employers to protect their workers from heat by imposing mandatory rest breaks, hydration and access to shade or cooled spaces, among other measures.

Ireland’s Vote To Divest From Fossil Fuels Latest In A Global Campaign For Climate

July 14, 2018 Phil McKenna, Insideclimatenews.org , , ,
Ireland is on its way to becoming the first country to fully divest all public funds from fossil fuel companies after a key vote in its parliament on Thursday. It's a major milestone in an international push by environmental organizations to shut off the flow of investor cash into coal, oil and gas companies. Over the past six years, the divestment campaign has generated public pressure on countries, cities and universities around the world to cut ties to the fossil fuel industry. Nearly 900 institutions worldwide representing more than $6 trillion in assets have so far committed to some level of divestment, according to the activist group 350.org. But the campaign also has highlighted a conflict between two different approaches to forcing changes in the name of protecting the climate: those who believe total divestment is the only option, and activist investors who believe they can more successfully persuade companies to change policies by working from the inside as shareholders with a stake and a voice.

The Media Never Mention The No. 1 Cause Of Climate Change

July 13, 2018 By Lee Camp, Truthdig.com ,
There are many issues the corporate media will debate in its standard, convoluted, manipulative manner. In fact, most issues will at some point get an hour of glowing fame on the mind-control box. Yet some topics are forbidden, banned from discussion on the mainstream news channels. One of those issues just happens to be the No. 1 cause of man-made climate change, and a top cause of illness, sickness, torture and environmental destruction in the United States and around the world. So it’s concerning that corporate media avoid it as if it’s a highly unstable radioactive material being handed to them by Bill Cosby. That topic is animal agriculture—the raising of the animals most of us eat. Unlike the media, I do want to get into this topic—partially because it’s hugely important and partially because I enjoy doing things that piss off corporate propaganda networks.

Reshaping The Supreme Court: What 2 Dissents On Climate Rules Tell Us

July 11, 2018 John H. Cushman JR, Insideclimatenews.org , ,
To see why environmentalists have been panicking about the new direction of the Supreme Court, just go back 11 years and read the two dissents in the landmark climate change case Massachusetts v. EPA. Not the majority opinion, where Justice Anthony Kennedy provided the fifth, swing vote compelling the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants under the Clean Air Act. In the opening words of the ruling, the liberal wing of the court, joined by Kennedy, embraced the science of climate change. No, what sends shudders down the spines of environmental advocates is the way the deeply conservative minority saw things back then, spelled out in a pair of dissents—one written by Chief Justice John Roberts and the other by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whose seat President Donald Trump filled last year with Neil Gorsuch.

Could Making Fuel From CO2 Slow Climate Change?

July 1, 2018 Tim Radford, Climate News Network ,
We are skeptical of the technical solution of scrubbing the climate of CO2 and turning climate pollution into energy. It is important to continue on the path of transitioning to a 100% clean energy economy for the climate, water, air and healt. We also need an immediate moratorium of building infrastructure for carbon energy. The hope of a technological solution to the climate crisis should not slow the transition that is underway, albeit underway to slowly: North American scientists may be one step nearer to the dream solution to low-carbon energy, new fuel from CO2, if they can suck it straight from the air and convert it directly into gasoline, diesel or jet fuel. That is, they could deliver instant fossil fuels. They could do what nature has done – all coal, oil and natural gas began with carbon dioxide absorbed by living tissue – without the time and expense of deep burial for a hundred million years or so. In principle, they could also use their direct air capture technology to draw the greenhouse gas from the air, turn it into liquid and store it in a secure geological formation for 100,000 years.

Meet America’s New Climate Normal: Towns That Flood When It Isn’t Raining

June 29, 2018 By Elizabeth Rush, Theguardian.com ,
I spend the afternoon in Shorecrest, a neighborhood a couple of miles north of downtown Miami. To get there I leave the beach behind and drive past Arky’s Live Bait & Tackle, Deal and Discounts II, Rafiul Food Store, Royal Budget Inn, Family Dollar and Goodwill. As I continue north, the buildings all lose their mirrored glass and their extra floors, until most are single story and made from stucco. It isn’t raining when I arrive in Shorecrest, and there isn’t a storm offshore; the day is as clear and as blue as the filigree on a porcelain plate. But the streets are still full of water. I watch as a woman wades ankle deep across Tenth Avenue. She has gathered her long russet-colored skirt in her right hand, and in her left she holds a pair of Jesus sandals. When she reaches the bus stop, she sits and puts her shoes on.

Blacksburg Mother Locks Down To Halt Mountain Valley Pipeline

June 28, 2018 Appalachians Against Pipelines, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Thursday morning, a pipeline protester locked herself to construction equipment on a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) easement in Montgomery County, VA, bringing pipeline construction on Brush Mountain to a halt. The blockade, carried out by local resident Emily Satterwhite, is the most recent action in an ongoing campaign to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Banners at the site read “Water is Life - We Won’t Back Down” and “VA Dems: Pipelines or Democracy - You Choose.” Dozens of local residents and pipeline resisters have gathered on Brush Mountain to support Emily and express their opposition to the MVP. 

NOAA’s Acting Chief Floated New Mission, Ignoring Climate Change

June 27, 2018 Neela Banerjee, Insideclimatenews.org ,
The acting chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed removing the word "climate" from the research agency's mission statement, the latest maneuver in the Trump administration's wide-ranging effort to downplay federal work on climate science and limit the public's access to it. The proposal drew swift condemnation from scientists. "Redefining@NOAA's mission is a serious threat to the breadth of science, services and stewardship that NOAA provides," tweeted the former head of NOAA Jane Lubchenco. The proposed revision was unveiled by Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Timothy Gallaudet in a PowerPoint presentation he used at a "vision setting" summit last week of the Commerce Department, which houses NOAA. After the response from scientists and questions from the media, Gallaudet walked back the proposal through a statement issued by the NOAA press office.

Red Green Revolution – Victor Wallis On The Ecosocialist Future

June 26, 2018 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, ClearingtheFOGRadio. , , ,
Two major crises of our era are growing wealth inequality and its resultant poverty and climate change, which is connected to a variety of environmental issues. Neither of these crises can be resolved without addressing the underlying root cause of capitalism, but many people are uncertain about what an economy beyond capitalism looks like. In his new book, Red Green Revolution: The Politics and Technology of Ecosocialism, Victor Wallis explains why a livable future must be ecosocialist, what ecosocialism is and how we get there. We discuss his book and the latest news.

Some Rare Good Climate News: The Fossil Fuel Industry Is Weaker Than Ever

June 23, 2018 By Bill McKibben, Theguardian.com ,
If you’re looking for good news on the climate front, don’t look to the Antarctic. Last week’s spate of studies documenting that its melt rates had tripled is precisely the kind of data that underscores the almost impossible urgency of the moment. And don’t look to Washington DC, where the unlikely survival of the EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, continues to prove the political power of the fossil fuel industry. It’s as if he’s on a reality show where the premise is to see how much petty corruption one man can get away with. But from somewhat less likely quarters, there’s been reason this month for hope – reason, at least, to think that the basic trajectory of the world away from coal and gas and oil is firmly under way. At the Vatican, the pope faced down a conference full of oil industry executives – the basic argument that fossil fuel reserves must be kept underground has apparently percolated to the top of the world’s biggest organization.

Report: G20 Countries Set To Invest Over $1.6 Trillion In ‘Fossil Gas,’ Jeopardizing Paris Climate Goals

June 20, 2018 Matt Maiorana, Priceofoil.org , ,
This report is one of two reports published simultaneously that question the ongoing push for expanding fossil gas production in G20 countries. This report, ‘Debunked: The G20 Clean Gas Myth,’ focuses on fossil gas development in the G20 and debunking the myth of fossil gas as a clean transition fuel. It is published by Oil Change International and available at: http://priceofoil.org/debunked-g20-clean-gas-myth The partner report, ‘Debunked: The Promise of Argentina’s Vaca Muerta Shale Play,’ published by Greenpeace in Argentina, focuses on the myths surrounding the development of shale gas in Argentina, particularly the Vaca Muerta shale play.

Can We Stop FERC From Rushing Us Toward Climate Catastrophe?

June 19, 2018 Dennis Higgins, Truthout.org , ,
It could be argued that, outside of the companies involved in the actual extraction, transmission and sale of fossil fuels, no group of people on Earth can take as much responsibility for our current climate catastrophe as the commissioners at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In 1977, FERC was established to regulate national energy policy independently of Congress and even, to a great extent, the president. The commissioners are nominated by the president and then confirmed by the Senate. Under the Natural Gas Act (1938), FERC reviews interstate pipeline applications for “convenience and necessity,” as well as compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Antarctica Ice Loss Tripled in 5 Years, And That’s Raising Sea Level Risks

June 16, 2018 Bob Berwyn, Insideclimatenews.org , , ,
The most complete assessment to date of Antarctica's ice sheets confirms that the meltdown accelerated sharply in the past five years, and there is no sign of a slowdown. That means sea level is expected to rise at a rate that will catch some coastal communities unprepared despite persistent warnings, according to the international team of scientists publishing a series of related studies this week in the journal Nature. The scientists found that the rate of ice loss over the past five years had tripled compared to the previous two decades, suggesting an additional 6 inches of sea level rise from Antarctica alone by 2100, on top of the 2 feet already projected from all sources, including Greenland. "That may not sound like a lot, but it's a big deal for people living along coasts," said University of Leeds climate researcher Andrew Shepherd, who led the assessment, supported by NASA and the European Space Agency.

Liberal Philanthropy Is Dooming The Planet To Climate Disaster, Documents Reveal

June 16, 2018 By Nafeez Ahmed, Mintpressnews.com ,
One of the world’s biggest philanthropic initiatives to address climate change is set-up to fail catastrophically, according to a strategy document setting out the initiative’s five-year plan. The strategy document, published by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in January, represents the third renewal of the Climate Works initiative originally founded in 2008. The initiative was executed through the Climate Works Foundation in coordination with other big philanthropic foundations, the Packard and McKnight Foundations. The Hewlett Foundation strategy document, titled Climate Initiative Strategy 2018–2023, reflects on the strategic thinking behind the process that led to the announcement last December that the foundation would commit $600 million to address climate change over the next five years — a 20 percent increase from previous funding.
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